Both Goaltenders have faced 61 shots through the first two games of the series, with Niemi allowing three goals and Luongo six. Although both goaltenders have had a real strong series, it has been Niemi making the BIG saves when it matters most.

Special Teams: - advantage VANCOUVER

San Jose – The Sharks power play got them going offensively in Game 1 with a great effort by Logan Couture to tie the game at 1-1 in the 2nd period. But, the Sharks are just 1-for-9 on the power play in the series, including 0-for-5 in Game 2.

Vancouver – The Canucks only had two chances on the power play in Game 1 and were unable to convert. But Vancouver picked things up in Game 2 going 1-for-3 and are now 1-for-5 in the series.

Shot Blocking: advantage SHARKS

The Sharks have already blocked 37 shots in the first two games of this series. 13 different San Jose skaters blocked a shot in Game 2 (Thornton, Boyle, and Braun all had 3) while only five different players blocked a shots for the Canucks. It has been a COMPLETE team effort for the Sharks in their defensive zone.

Injury Report:

San Jose: Martin Havlat left after the first period of play in Game 1 with an undisclosed injury and was replaced by Tim Kennedy for Game 2. James Sheppard played on the 4th line in place of Scott Gomez in Game 1 and Game 2. No announcement of any changes yet for Game 3 on Sunday.

Vancouver: no injuries reported for the Vancouver after Game 2, however there is still a question on the health of goaltender Cory Schneider who missed Games 1 and 2 due to a “body” injury. Schneider is reported to be ready if the Canucks want to make the switch.

''It might be a great thing for us,'' Sharks coach Todd McLellan said about the possibility of Schneider in the net for Game 3. ''I think Luongo's been tremendous. I really do. I think he's made some great saves in the series. If they want to take that quality of goaltender out of the lineup and go to the other one, we'll take our chances with that as well.''

Lines for VAN in Game 2:

Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Alex Burrows

Mason Raymond – Derek Roy – Jannik Hansen

Chris Higgins – Ryan Kesler – Zack Kassian

Andrew Ebbett – Maxim Lapierre – Dale Weise

Dam Hamhuis – Jason Garrison

Alex Edler – Kevin Bieksa

Andrew Alberts – Frank Corrado

Roberto Luongo

Joe Cannata

Shark Bites: (interesting tidbits heading into Game 3)

*Nice Home Record… The Sharks return home for Game 3 having posting the best home record during the 2012-13 regular season (17-2-5)… San Jose is 37-33 all-time on home ice in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

*Game 3… San Jose is 17-11 all-time in Game 3’s including a 8-4 record on home ice… the previous 11 Game 3’s have all been decided by one goal (SJ has 6-5 record in those last 11).

*OT… The Sharks evened up their overtime playoff record with a win in Game 2. The Sharks are 17-17 in OT playoff games… 12-4 in their last 16 overtime games in the playoffs.

Vancouver Notes: (interesting tidbits heading into Game 3)

*Road Record… The Canucks had the 11th best road record during the regular season (11-9-4).

*Picking it up in the 2nd… Vancouver has outshot San Jose 28-14 in the 2nd period through the first games of the series.

*Sedins?... after combining for 18 points (3-15-18) in the five game playoff series vs. San Jose in 2011, the Sedin twins have just two assists through the first two games.

What they are saying…

“We are half way there now,”… said Dan Doyle after the Sharks took Game 2 in Vancouver. The two hardest wins are ahead of us now.”

BOTTOM LINE

The Sharks know how important this Game 3 is to win if they want to take the series vs. the Canucks and are going to need their special teams to do so as Vancouver will come out flying on Sunday. San Jose owned the 4th best home power play in the NHL in the regular season at 25.6% but need to get it done staring here in Game 3. The first two wins of the series were not easy ones for San Jose, but the next two will be even harder with the Canucks backed up against the wall. The Shark Tank will be rocking! Go Sharks!

NHL.com Preview

CANUCKS at SHARKS

(San Jose leads best-of-7 series 2-0)

TV: NBCSN; CBC, RDS; CSN-CA

Big story: The San Jose Sharks come home with the chance to put a stranglehold on their Western Conference Quarterfinal series against the Vancouver Canucks after winning Games 1 and 2 at Rogers Arena. The Canucks trail 2-0 in an opening-round series for the second straight year.

Team Scope:

Canucks: Two years ago, the Canucks were one win away from the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. Since then, they've won just once in nine playoff games -- but their loss to the Sharks on Friday night was especially painful. Vancouver was less than a minute away from evening the series before Patrick Marleau scored with 55.1 seconds left in regulation and former Canuck Raffi Torres beat Roberto Luongo for the overtime winner.

The back-to-back home losses make Game 3 a must for the Canucks, who've dropped their last six postseason games at Rogers Arena and need a win in San Jose to earn a chance to snap that streak.

"Every time we are down in a series, no one believes in us," captain Henrik Sedin said Saturday. "This is a city where if you win a playoff game, everyone is happy. If you lose one or two, no one is going to believe in you. … We have to believe in ourselves and do the same thing tomorrow to give ourselves a chance."

Sharks: Marleau's reputation as a player who can't produce in the playoffs is belied by his numbers. He has goals in each of the first two games, and his game-tying tally on Friday was the 54th postseason goal of his career -- more than any other active player not named Jaromir Jagr. He didn't score in last year's five-game loss to St. Louis, but had 15 goals in 2009 and '10, helping the Sharks make the Western Conference Finals both years.

"You just have to look at the stats," Sharks forward Brent Burns said. "The guy is incredible. The only knock on him is he just makes it look too easy. I wish I could do that. He's an unbelievable talent and he's one of the hardest-working guys here. It's pretty incredible to see and just follow a guy like that."

Who's hot: Ryan Kesler was in line to be the hero Friday night before the late heroics by Marleau -- he scored twice in the third period to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead. … Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi has allowed just three goals on 61 shots in the first two games.